Vacant campsites

[MickeyMouth 3]

Disney's high holiday rates kicked in on Friday and lots of campers left. Of course most sites were soon replaced by people willing to pay the exorbitant holiday rates, however, there were still a lot of vacant sites Friday night and Saturday night. Most loops had at least 2 vacant sites, some had even more. I don't ever remember seeing that many vacant sites on the week-end this close to the holidays - perhaps FW has finally hit the threshold of what they can charge.

[articfox676 11]

School is still in session so vacation doesn't begin until after the 20th.

[tim5055 120]

It was fairly full last night, but there is a line of folks heading for the exit. Probably all the locals heading home

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

School is still in session so vacation doesn't begin until after the 20th.

 

Schools up this way aren't off yet. Sounds like Disney extended their holiday rates and extra week hoping to catch a few poor suckers folks who decided to arrive before the big crowds really start coming in.

[Jennifer41 19]

I would be one of those suckers. :laugh:

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

So would I! 

[CampMImi 22]

I would be one of those suckers. :laugh:

 

Diddo.  I am a sucker for getting as close to Christmas as possible.  If I didn't have to "share" I would stay through Christmas Day, no doubt and no matter what the price was.

[MickeyMouth 3]

Actually I was comparing the number of vacant campsites this week to the same time period last year.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

Actually I was comparing the number of vacant campsites this week to the same time period last year.

I think part of the problem may also be the weather. There's a lot more snow up North than there was last year. I think some people may have had to cancel since they can't get the rigs out yet.

[Timsmith7 36]

We are also one of those suckers. We dug our RV out of 12" of snow. When I un winterized it the water frooze before we got on the road.

We are at 1928 and a good portion of the loop is empty.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Glad to hear you escaped the snow!!

 

We had close to a foot last weekend and a bunch more today.  In fact it's still snowing out now... (waaaaaa)

[jjbescher 17]

How does the 500 Loop look?  We are checking in on Saturday early and hoping to be able to get a campsite right away without having to park in the overflow lot.

 

Thanks.

[Thrill Shakespeare (Andy) 58]

A lot of us wish we could be "suckers" along with you all. :jumpforjoy

[MickeyMouth 3]

How does the 500 Loop look?  We are checking in on Saturday early and hoping to be able to get a campsite right away without having to park in the overflow lot.

 

Thanks.

Just drove through the 500 loop. There were 15 vacant sites (mostly towards the end of the loop). On the other hand, FW must be expecting a lot of guests soon cause there was a lot of golf carts lined up for rentals. Good luck!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

If a big bunch of sites right next to each other empty out, that usually means they are holding them for a large group. Hopefully they won't be loud, obnoxious, drunks :)

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

...Hopefully they won't be loud, obnoxious, drunks :)

 

Unfortunately our camper is snowed in. 

[c_line 1]

If a big bunch of sites right next to each other empty out, that usually means they are holding them for a large group. Hopefully they won't be loud, obnoxious, drunks :)

 

We're on the way! =)  I kid, I kid.  There are three groups of us going, but as far as I know there are no plans to be on neighbouring campsites.  We're all family, and mostly work together, so I think they're looking for a bit of breathing room.  And we won't be in the 500 loop.  Not sure about the rest of them.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

We're on the way! =)  I kid, I kid.  There are three groups of us going, but as far as I know there are no plans to be on neighbouring campsites.  We're all family, and mostly work together, so I think they're looking for a bit of breathing room.  And we won't be in the 500 loop.  Not sure about the rest of them.

this is actually an "old joke". Several years ago at Halloween, several of us Fiends WERE in the 500 loop together, and someone posted elsewhere that there were a bunch of unruly, loud, obnoxious drunks with purple signs in the 500 loop, definitely jabbing at us, so now we wear the jab with a badge of honor :)

[Lou... 3,118]

someone posted elsewhere that there were a bunch of unruly, loud, obnoxious drunks with purple signs in the 500 loop, definitely jabbing at us, so now we wear the jab with a badge of honor

 

But you don't have to be all of them to be a Fiend, it helps though.

[c_line 1]

Haha, good to know!  :)

[Timsmith7 36]

Well it appears the sites are starting to fill up. We have several new neighbors in the 1900 loop.

[bord1niowa......Curt 79]

Friday night the 20th and Loop 2000 still had several empty sites tonight.  Wonder what that means?

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

I have one customer I have been trying for weeks to get a site for. Wish the people who were holding onto sites would cancel them already so people who want to be there could get a site. 

[lightbikes 73]

We took a ride tonight through most of the loops except the cabins and Spanish Moss and counted close to 100 empty sites.  There were 11 empty in 300 alone.  Don't know where all the people are but there sure weren't the decorations we normally would have seen 5 days before Christmas in the past.  

[Goober's Wife 1]

I'm honestly not sure how Disney's booking system works for Fort Wilderness but I will honestly say I think it's bizarre.

 

In the past, I have had to make reservations for a larger window than we wanted, and then I would call back and drop the extra days.  For example, if I tried to reserve say a Wed-Saturday 4 night stay, the system would tell me there were no sites, but if I changed it to Tuesday-Saturday nights or Sunday-Saturday nights then suddenly like magic there was a site.  They just didn't want to give it to me for 4 nights.  In other words, I think they try to force people to book longer stays.  If enough people aren't savvy enough to realize they can call back later and modify the nights to trim them down, that could account for some of the "empties" where people are arriving late or leaving early.

 

That said, prices keep climbing, so maybe they are finally beginning to price out some campers.